Italy Guide
Lombardy and the lakes
Pinacoteca di Brera
Milan's most prestigious art gallery, the Pinacoteca di Brera, Address: Via Brera 28 Opening time: Tues– Sun 8.30am–7.15pmPrice: €5 
www.brera.beniculturali.it was opened to the public in 1809 by Napoleon, who filled the building with works looted from the churches and aristocratic collections of French-occupied Italy. It's big: your visit will probably be more enjoyable if you're selective, dipping into the collection guided by your own personal tastes. There's a good audioguide available (€3.50), although it does rather gallop through the highlights.
Not surprisingly, most of the museum's paintings are Italian and predate the twentieth century. Some later works are on display, including by Modigliani, De Chirico and Carrà (Room X), but it's the Renaissance which comprises the museum's core. There's a good representation of Venetian painters – works by Bonifacio and, a century later, Paolo Veronese, the latter weighing in with Supper in the House of Simon (Room IX). The painting got him into trouble with the Inquisition, who considered the introduction of frolicking animals and unruly kids unsuitable subject matter for a religious painting. Tintoretto's Pietà (Room IX) was more in tune with requirements of the time (the 1560s), a scene of intense concentration and grief over Christ's body. Gentile Bellini's St Mark Preaching in St Euphemia Square (Room VIII) introduces an exotic note: the square bustles with turbaned men, veiled women, camels and even a giraffe. There are also paintings by Gentile's follower, Carpaccio – The Presentation of the Virgin and The Disputation of St Stephen (Room VI) – along with a profoundly moving Pietà (Room VI) by Gentile's more talented brother, Giovanni. Look out also for The Dead Christ (Room VI), a painting by Giovanni Bellini's brother-in-law, Mantegna: it's an ingenious composition – viewed from Christ's wrinkled and pierced soles upwards.